Thanks to Moms 4 Mitt on a great article from, miracles of miracles, the Boston Globe. Here are some key quotes:

The current Governor Romney needed strong backing early in the process to be taken seriously as a contender. Republicans don't like new faces, so Romney had to make himself familiar very quickly. He has done that, and more.

Last week, Romney was the runner-up to McCain in an exhaustive National Journal poll of Washington insiders. And McCain himself has validated the early soundings by crashing the annual convention of the Republican Governors Association, which Romney chaired. McCain knew that Romney's ties to Republican governors could give him thousands of foot soldiers in the primaries. It was a testament to the extent of Romney's support that McCain felt a need to intervene so early and so directly.

But Romney's own actions have played a role in his rise. Moves that were dismissed as craven in Massachusetts -- denying protection to former president Mohammad Khatami of Iran or having State Police round up illegal immigrants -- have played big in Washington.

Now, Romney is widely accepted as a true conservative, to the right of the quirky McCain, by the large GOP punditocracy. It helped that Romney made frequent trips to Washington to give speeches at conservative think tanks and to curry favor with GOP insiders.